Walking Down the Highway
by tLrIuEtSh
Summary: No, he didn't have anger management problems. He just liked to solve things with violence.   Chapter 4: Seifer's POV. This story is a Seiner AU. Don't like, don't read!
1. Hayner: Growing Up

Prologue: Hayner- Growing Up (The Hard Way)

**AN- **Hey guys! As you can probably see if you glanced at my profile, this is my first story here on FF. You don't have to go easy on me because of that but…well, do you think you could a little?

Heh heh…

So, if you read the description, you'll see this is a Seifer/Hayner fic. If you have a problem with that, well then, why the hell did you click on this story on the first place? If you mis-clicked (that even a word?), there should be a handy little back arrow somewhere on your computer screen.

There's also an adorable little button at the bottom of this page. It likes to be tickled. Click on it, and it will love you forever and ever and ever and ever…

I digress.

Oh yes, there is also going to be general bad language, bad situations, bad dreams, and bad hairdos. If any or all of the previous cause you dizziness, vomiting, or nose bleeds, watch out!

**Disclaimer**_**- **_Notice how Demyx died? And Axel died? And Roxas became part of Sora? And fricking _Xigbar_ died?

Yeah. I don't own.

…

He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind that the first one wasn't his fault.

He had totally forgotten about leaving one of his model cars at the top of the stairs. He did it often enough that his mind no longer processed it as dangerous. He barely used them anymore anyway. And he had only slowly begun picking up the signs of his parents' fights; the raised voices in the middle of the night when they thought he and his younger sister, Naminé, were asleep, his father's long absences, the messiness of their bedroom when he went in there to steal back his IPod.

So, really, he knew it wasn't completely his fault when his mother stormed out of their room, slamming the door, turned sharply on her heel, stepping on the toy car, and falling down the stairs. The loud thud sent him running out of his room, screaming when he saw the broken body below him. Naminé emerged from her own room as soon as the first yell left his mouth. She was calmer than him, but her already pale face drained of any color at all when she saw the sight at the bottom of the stair, grabbing the phone out of his pocket and dialing 911.

His mother died that day.

It wasn't really his fault, but guilt pounded on him in waves, as Larxene's barely controlled voice reached his ear over the phone, and Naminé sobbed quietly to herself. He was so _guilty_ and _angry_ and when his father's neutral, not caring voice reached his ears, he found he _hated_ him.

The first one might not have been his fault, but the second one and the third one sure were.

It was three months later, and they were driving to Nam's choir recital, and they were _screaming_ at each other because of all that _hate_ and his father's eyes were off the road, and Naminé was shrieking at them to _stop it, stop it._

They didn't see the man crossing the street until it was too late. His father was speeding down the road, and he caught the figure out of the corner of his eye. He strangled out a curse (_SHIT!)_ and swerved into oncoming traffic. There was a sickening crunch as the back side of the car hit the man anyway.

There was nothing but their breath for a split second. Then, the car hit them.

Besides all the screeching metal (_Naminé?) _all he could process was the pain and the twisted body beside him, and _oh god_ was that blood (_NAMINÉ!) _on his sister's white dress? And he was _fine_, except for the spinning of his head, and the slowly growing _hate_ that was already mounting in his head and (_Mother of Jesus…)_ the _guilt._

He didn't notice he was screaming until hasty hands pulled him out of his seat.

Later at the hospital, he scrunched himself into a ball, burrowing himself into the very corner of the couch in the waiting room, trying to get rid of the aching cold feeling in his heart as he anxiously awaited the doctor's return.

"What do you _fucking_ mean I can't see her right now? And what do you _fucking_ mean you don't know where Hayner is?"

"Larxene?" he whispered, lifting his head the tiniest bit. Sure enough, he could see her tiny ponytail bouncing as she leaned over the counter and hissed in the terrified nurse's face.

"Listen, you piece of shit, my whole family has just been in a fucking car accident, my father is _dead_, I'm missing an important lecture for college, and you're telling me I cannot see my fucking _siblings_?"

"Larxene," he called a bit louder. Her face froze mid-snarl, and she slowly pivoted on one foot, her eyes landing on his scrunched up form. Abandoning the ready to faint nurse, she marched closer to him, and he buried himself deeper in the couch, expecting harsh words and maybe a slap across the face for being so _stupid_.

He did not expect to be wrenched out of his seat and pulled into a bone crushing embrace. Her face pressed into his neck, whispering furious and relieved words. He noticed she smelled like the sky after a storm, with the faintest whiff on cinnamon.

Eventually, his arms found his way around her waist, hugging her back as he fought the urge to cry. It was his fault his usually brash and brutish sister was acting so odd. It was his fault his father and that man was dead. It was his fault Nam was in the hospital.

And he wasn't even fucking _hurt_.

There was a soft clearing of the throat from behind him, and Larxene hastily pulled away, wiping at her unusually wet eyes. She was crying… _Larxene _was crying.

"So, how's Naminé, Doc?" she ground out, barely keeping the vulnerability out of her voice. "What's the verdict?"

"Physically, she's fine," the doctor started, and Hayner let out the breath that he'd been holding. "Nothing but a few cuts and bruises."

"What's the catch?" Larxene demanded, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes as the doctor's face became uncomfortable.

"Sometimes when people are in terrible and traumatic situations, it can…cause a physical reaction. Some people become paranoid, or develop insomnia, or even completely withdraw from society," the doctor started nervously.

"Get to the point, you son of a bitch!"

The doctor flinched at Larxene's sharp voice, rubbing his eyes. "Naminé…seems to have lost her voice. She's mute."

Utter silence.

"I'm told that she was a beautiful singer," the doctor stated hesitantly, eyes darting between their shocked faces in concern. "I'm sorry. You can go in and see her now."

He left them there.

Immediately, Larxene took off down the hallway, Hayner right at her heels. They sprinted through the twists and turns of the hospital until they reached Naminé's door, and Larxene kicked the door open.

Nam looked up from her clasped hands, her eyes lighting up when she saw who it was. Her mouth opened and…

Nothing came out.

Hayner stared at her blankly as Larxene kneeled at her side, pulling her into her arms just as fiercely as she had Hayner. All he could think was that _this_ was his fault too, the fourth life he'd ruined.

He ignored the tiny voice in his head that said that it wasn't really his fault. All he knew was that it was his own self-absorbed feelings that had ruined these four lives and he'd be _damned_ if there was a fifth.

So, he swore that he would never let anyone get close to him ever again. That way he'd never get close enough to hurt them. He knew he probably wasn't thinking clearly, but it was the first thing that made sense to him since his mother died.

So, he offered a false, reassuring smile at Naminé's silently concerned look, and knelt next to her bed, drawing both his sisters into his arms.

…

**AN**- Just FYI for anyone curious: the dashes in the middle are meant to signify time passing, while the dots show the ending and beginning of the chapter.

Yes, I know that somebody out there is probably thinking _WTF? Naminé and Hayner and Larxene are RELATED?_ And YES they are. I was gonna do Demyx, but I already have another place for him in the story, and I didn't want Cloud to be the older sibling, and Larxene just kinda worked well… And I needed Naminé to be the younger sister for obvious reasons… So, we ended up with that fantastic family arrangement.

I'm gonna have so much fun with this.

Reviews make the author work faster! You know…if you care…

This is tLrIuEtSh signing off!


	2. Hayner: Damn Demyx

Chapter 1: Hayner- Damn Demyx (And His Little Guitar Too)

**AN- **Bonjour, mes amis!

Is that the correct grammar? I just started taking French, so I'm not sure.

I just wanted to say right now that I really hate people who portray Demyx as a wimp on a sugar high. Almost as much as much as people who make Axel out to be a total pervert. Not that I don't read stuff like that and enjoy it, I just don't think those are very accurately character portrayals, considering that Demyx kicked my ass to Kingdom Hearts for about an hour when I tried to beat him in Hollow Bastian. Those form thingies are ANNOYING!

So, my Demyx isn't going to be like that, regardless of what you might think based on this chapter. Everybody's afraid of Larxene.

On the note of my ass being kicked to Kingdom Hearts, does anybody have any tips on how to beat Master Eraqus in Terra's story of BBS? Because I'm _sucking_. Maybe I just haven't leveled him up enough…

In this chapter, the main story officially begins! Less angst, more humor, and gory pictures of Demyx dying. What more could you want?

Reviews are answered at the bottom of the chapter.

**Disclaimer- **The day I own Kingdom Hearts, Organization XIII will rise from the ashes, and this time they get to whack _Sora_ over the head with an oversized key. Take _that_ you stupid "Oh right, they have no hearts!" jerk!

Sorry Sora.

…

Hayner woke up to steady beats of deafening guitar music. Which was, honestly, not that odd an occurrence, but it still pissed him off every time.

Especially when he rolled over and saw the time.

"Damn it!" he swore, jumping out of bed and grabbing the clothes that Naminé had set out for him. He had only fifteen minutes to get to school.

"Demyx!" he yelled as he hopped down the stairs, trying to get his sock on. He winced as a bad note hit his ears, and the figure on the couch jumped, looking back at him in shock.

"H-Hey, you're still here!" he exclaimed nervously, before settling his head in his hands. "Larxene is going to _kill_ me."

Demyx was one of Larxene's friends from college. If you totally changed the meaning of the word 'friend' to something more like 'whining, unwilling slave' . Apparently she saved him after he lost all his money to some gambling dude- Luxord?- and now he owed her for life. Which usually meant he made him babysit Hayner and Naminé while she was in classes. Which usually were in the early morning. Which usually meant he was blasting his guitar at 6:00 AM.

Of course, on the day of one of the most important math test in Hayner's junior years so far, he would come an hour late. Typical.

"You're worried about her?" Hayner snarled, pleasuring in the look of barely hidden terror on Demyx's face. "If I didn't have only ten minutes to get to class, _I'd_ kill you right now."

"Ah, but you _do_ only have ten minutes to get to class," Demyx pointed out with a shaky laugh. Hayner clenched his hands into fists.

"But I have _plenty_ of time after school," he growled, ignoring Demyx's "meep!" and slamming the door behind him.

As he took off down the sidewalk, he somehow managed to watch the road surreptitiously while still muttering curses at Demyx under his breath. But, while he was relatively decent at double tasking, he'd never been a triple tasker.

So he didn't notice the guy walking in front of him until he ran him over.

He blinked in surprise at suddenly finding himself horizontal, before grinning down at the familiar bunch of spikes below him. "Hey, Roxas. What are you doing up so late?"

"Get the hell off me, Hayner," Roxas mumbled into the concrete. Hayner laughed before obliging his friend. Affronted blue eyes glared up at him. "What are you doing up so late anyway? Did you finally manage to sleep through Demyx?"

Good mood gone in an instant, Hayner folded his arms sulkily and swung his head sharply to the side. "He came late today."

"Ah…" his best friend pushed himself up, brushing the gravel off his clothes. "Larxene's going to kill him."

"Why does everyone talk like Larxene's the only one capable of killing anyone?" Hayner demanded, stomping his foot in a way that was _not at all_ temper tantrum-ish. Roxas just smirked at him evilly.

"Because Nam's too nice to kill anyone and well…" he grabbed one of Hayner's wrists and stared at it skeptically. "You're kinda scrawny, Hay."

Hayner pulled his arm back, wondering why he ever bothered telling Roxas about his problems. Roxas's twin, Ponies and Rainbows Sora himself would be a better option than his overly sarcastic friend. "It was supposed to be rhetorical…" he mumbled.

"Like you know what rhetorical means."

"Too far!"

The next thing Hayner knew, he was chasing Roxas down the street like a five year old, still watching the street. And as previously established, he couldn't triple task, meaning he could no longer come up with colorful ways to kill or maim Demyx.

…Damn Demyx.

_**{CaLl 911! ThE pAgE iS bRoKeN!}**_

It was only after first period that he realized that he'd left his science homework on his dining room table. And his lunch in the refrigerator, which was honestly more important at the moment, seeing as he hadn't eaten any breakfast.

Luckily, he had sweet and understanding friends that would not only let him con answers off them, but also let him steal their morning granola bars.

"Do your own homework, Hayner. And keep your hands off my food!"

Well. He hadn't meant _Pence_, but he was sure somebody…

"Don't even try, Hayner."

He pouted, fixing Olette with his deadliest glare. She just scoffed at him, and Pence was too busy eating to even notice his sorrowful state.

Roxas wasn't in this class, but there was no way he'd give him anything anyway. He eyed the bag of potato chips sitting on the corner of Professor Vexen's desk.

"Don't take those; you don't know what kind of chemical he's added in as an experiment. He's probably just waiting for some unsuspecting student to take a bite."

He sent Olette another glare, but slumped down in his seat, defeated.

Damn Demyx!

"It's not like I didn't do my homework!" he protested, bristling at Olette's skeptical look. "I did! I swear, I did! I just don't have it with me right now."

"You say that every time you forget to do your homework," Olette scoffed, throwing her dark brown hair over her shoulder as she fixed him with a piercing green glare. Hayner shrunk in his seat, thinking her eyes looked a little too close to _literally_ shooting daggers at him.

"Yes, but this time it's true!" he protested, clasping his hands together in front of his chest in a begging motion. Pence snorted in disbelief, widening his eyes innocently when Hayner shot him a sullen look. "Just this one time, 'Lette. I'll never ask you for anything again!"

"You always say that too," Olette muttered, but handed over her homework anyway. "And I want to see proof that you did it afterschool! Otherwise, I'll hunt you down and make you cook me something. I've been in the mood for some three layer fudge marble cake. With orange frosting and some rainbow sprinkles."

Hayner laughed uncertainly, keeping his eyes carefully fixed on Olette's careful handwriting. He hadn't done a lot of these correctly…

Ever since Hayner and Pence had cooked Olette a cake for her birthday (read: Hayner baked her a cake while Pence ate the frosting and played on his new mini laptop), she'd found many ways to blackmail him into cooking for her again. Honestly, Hayner didn't see why she was so insistent about it. It hadn't been the best cake in the world by far, in his opinion at least. Plus, it had been the first time he'd cooked since…

Well. Since.

Sometimes, he'd find himself in the kitchen, and he'd remember his mother's warm smiles, and delicious food, and he'd have to sprint for the bathroom to empty his stomach of the memory.

Naminé did most of the cooking nowadays. Larxene couldn't make Easy Mac without messing it up somehow.

The bell signaling the start of second period rang at the exactly as Hayner filled in the last problem. Professor Vexen swept into the classroom with an intimidating twirl of his white lab coat. His science teacher never failed to give him the creeps.

His hawk-like eyes surveyed the class coldly, one mere poisonous glance shutting up the lingering chatter.

"I am departing for the day," he announced, his voice ringing out clearly. "Please consider this a free period. Your substitute should be arriving soon. Watch out for eye patched men falling from the ceiling."

Hayner gaped at him open mouthed as he disappeared, lab coat fluttering behind him. He had just wasted those ten minute copying homework…when he could have been talking to his friends! Or studying for his math test! Or doing something more productive than merely moving his pencil across a blank sheet of paper!

"I think Professor Vexen has finally lost it," Pence deduced with certainty. Olette was watching the ceiling warily. "Why would an eye patched man drop from the ceiling?"

Hayner yelped and fell backwards in his chair when a pair of boots landed on the desk in front of him, loudly declaring "Why not?"

Damn Demyx.

_**{QuIcK, pUt A cAsT oN iT!}**_

His head was still aching from the fall to the ground as he headed to his last period of the day. He had quickly decided that he would take Professor Vexen's unnatural calm over Xigbar's manic attitude any day. He found himself keeping one eye on the ceiling for any eye patched men getting ready to drop on his head.

Just another paranoia to add to his steadily growing list.

The rest of the day hadn't been much better. Nam had avoided him like the plague, obviously not willing to get chewed out for not waking him up. He'd sat moodily through lunch, occasionally sneaking fries from Sora when the boy got too wrapped up in talking to notice. His journalism teacher had given him a weird look when she'd caught him drawing a detailed and rather gory picture of himself stabbing Demyx through the heart with a butter knife. She'd made him stay after class to discuss if he needed to go talk to his councilor.

It was not a conversation he particularly wanted to repeat.

Now, all he had left was math. He was going to pass this test, he could just feel it. Never mind the fact that he was failing the class and hadn't gotten higher than a C+ all year. He'd been up since one in the morning studying! He was going to get at least a B this time. So what if half that time he'd spent studying he'd really been browsing the internet? They'd only been able to scrounge up the money to get him and Nam their own computer a month ago. He was entitled to enjoy it.

His opinion changed the minute the three page test was set down on his desk. He eyed the first problem, panicked. He couldn't remember how to do this stuff.

He tapped his knees to try and calm himself down. It wasn't working this time. His breath was coming in faster and faster, not bringing in enough air, and his hands were hitting his knees hard enough to hurt, and his eyes were darting all over the place, and-

"I need some water!" he blurted out, launching himself out the door before his teacher could grab him.

He skidded into the bathroom, kicking open the first stall, and grabbed the sides of the toilet, taking in gasping breaths as he fought down his nausea. Fortunately, there wasn't enough food in his stomach for him to do anything but dry heave, choking as air rushed back into his lungs.

When his retches finally died down, he pushed himself shakily to his feet, leaning against the side of the stall heavily as he tried to remember how to walk without falling over. He opened the door and wobbled over to the sink, splashing his face with water. He grinned wryly as he took in the face in the mirror, coming off a shadow of what it usually was. So much for that B. There was no way he could walk back into class after that, and Mr. Leonhart would most likely not let him retake it tomorrow, no matter what bullshit of an excuse Hayner gave.

These panic attacks had become something of a normality to Hayner. Ever since…Ever since _then_, he'd been having them at least once a week. Larxene had caught him once, a month afterwards, and had wanted to send him to a therapist, but Hayner had managed to talk her out of it by saying that it was the only time it had happened (lie), and that they couldn't afford it any way (truth). He'd been a lot more careful since then.

He couldn't have anyone worrying about him. Because then he would hurt them.

He didn't leave the bathroom until the last bell rung.

_**{JuSt KeEp OfF iT fOr A fEw 'Ll HeAl On It'S oWn.}**_

To take his mind off the newly acquired zero on his math test, Hayner sprinted home, eyes gleaming manically as he pictured how to kill Demyx. He kept an eye on the road, thanking whoever-hell-was-up-there that there were no ceilings for him to be afraid of. He quickly settled on smashing the guitar hard on his weird hairdo.

However, as previously established, Hayner was not a triple tasker. So, he was not paying the slightest attention to where he was going.

You can probably guess what happened next.

"Oof!"

Hayner found himself on top of someone for the second time that day. However, he quickly established that he had no idea who it was this time when a fist connected with his face.

"Get the hell off of me!"

Rubbing his smarting eye, he raised his head to see a rather menacing figure hovering over him. Small wisps of platinum blond hair peek out from beneath a black beanie. Ice blue eyes glare down at Hayner, with arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Look where you're going, lamer."

Hayner stared at him for a few more seconds, squinting his visible eye. The boy's stance lost some of its anger as he noticed the kid's oddly blank expression. However, Hayner snapped out of it quickly, launching himself up to his feet.

"You want a fight, jerk?" he hissed, noting to his chagrin that the kid was a few inches taller than him. The rational part of his brain noticed that there were moving trucks in the street next to them. It also piped up that this was the house next to his.

"Like a chickenwuss like you could even scratch me," the boy sneered, brief concern vanishing from his face. "I think I'll pass."

"Seifer! I'm going to drop all these boxes if you don't help me!" a voice called distantly from the inside of the house. With one last glare, the boy- Seifer- turned is back on Hayner and charged up to the front door of the house, slamming it behind him.

Hayner seethed for a few seconds before remembering his primary target. He now had a black eye to blame on Demyx too. He wasn't just going to kill him now. Oh no. He was going to kill him, bring him back to life, and then sic a PMSing Larxene on him.

Cackling evilly, he shoved open the front door of his house and stomped his way to the living room, ready for a fight.

Only to be met with a shock of red hair.

Said hair waved cheerily at him. "Hey, I'm Axel. Got it memorized? Sorry Demyx couldn't be here. He said something about how he was too young to die. You must be Naminé. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

There were a few beats of silence.

"FUCK!" Hayner screamed, throwing his heavy backpack at the hair's face before storming up to his room and closing the door so hard, Axel could almost feel the house shake.

"That's Larxene's little brother alright," Axel moaned, clutching the rising lump on his head in agony. "Something tells me I'm going to regret agreeing to this."

…

**AN- **Don't worry, Axel, you might regret it for a little bit, but soon you'll have a little Roxas to comfort you in your misery. *insert evil laugh*.

Don't expect updates so quickly next time. I'll probably get around to it by next Sunday at the latest. It's the end of the quarter at my school, so I've got a lot of projects due, and less time to write. Also, in November I'll be doing NaNoWriMo, so updates will be slow there too.

Remember the ticklish button? It's still ticklish. And it'll still love you forever if you click it.

REVIEWS:

_SitarLover_: Thank you! Thank you, thank you!

_ShokubaiYume_: Thanks for the review. As for side pairings, I'm not quite sure yet. There will probably be some AkuRoku, and possibly some Pence/Olette on the side as well, but neither will be as major a focus as the Seiner. Larxene will definitely be in a pairing, but I'm not sure who yet. The only one I'm positive about it that there will be Zemyx. I hope I live up to your expectations.

Thanks to everyone who alerted or favorited this story too. Leave a review as well next time, okay? Tell me if there are any blaringly obvious mistakes.

This is tLrIuEtSh heading out!


	3. Naminé: Hayner in Colored Pencil

Chapter 2- Naminé: In Which Pictures are Drawn, Brothers are Avoided, and, Hopefully, a Few Friends are Made (Hayner in Colored Pencil)

**AN- **Hey. So, I got this out sooner than I actually expected, but it's not as fantastic as I'd like it to be. Nanowrimo is hard even in the first week. Cut me some slack…

So, this is Naminé's chapter. She's going to play some pretty important parts in this story, so it's only fair she gets her point of view shown every once in awhile, right? And yes, her chapter titles are always going to be that long. Every character gets their own version of a chapter title, though there are only three characters narrating.

Guess who the third one is. I'll give you three guesses, but if you don't get it in the first or at least second then I'll be very disappointed.

I love Xion, but I'm not quite sure I'm getting her character right. I'll address it more after the chapter and reviews are at the bottom too.

There's still a ticklish button down there…

**Disclaimer- **Oh yeah, I own Kingdom Hearts. That's why I'm writing fanfiction instead of working on the next installment of the game. Yeah procrastination!

I don't own.

…

Naminé woke up an hour earlier than she usually did.

The house was eerily quiet, and the shadows danced along the flat surfaces of the wall, down the furrowed planes of her brother's face, and across the folded hands in her lap. She sighed quietly, even that small sound seeming to disrupt the absolute stillness around her. She does it again, relishing in it.

It's hard to find silence peaceful anymore.

She shook off her moment of bitterness, pushing herself off her bed and depositing a kiss on her sleeping brother's forehead. He looked much too tranquil lying there asleep for her to wake him, so she hung his clothes on the chair next to him and slipped on a black jacket over her stark white dress. She was not hungry in the least, so she left without eating anything, thankful that Demyx was not here yet to bother her about it.

She clutched her notepad to her chest tightly as she walked the familiar path to the high school. Despite it being her first year there, she had always walked Hayner to school before continuing on to her own. Her feet were put on autopilot, leaving her plenty of time to think. That's what she believed would happen anyway.

"Hey! Hey, sketchbook girl!"

She froze, turning her head to see a black haired girl sprinting up behind her. Naminé waited for her to catch up, more out of confusion than anything else, keeping her eyes fixed on the newcomer as she skidded to a halt in front of her. The girl didn't seem very out of breath as she nearly crashed into Naminé, who took a few quick steps back, eyes still wide. She wondered how anyone was so athletic.

"Hi, I'm Xion!" she introduced herself, sticking out her hand in front of her. Naminé took it tentatively, flinching when Xion shook it firmly. "I'm new around here. Who're you?"

Naminé flinched, before carefully extending her notebook with her free hand and nodding at the neat name at the top. Xion peered at it curiously.

"Na-mi-né Pe-ters," she pronounced carefully, looking up for approval. Naminé smiled softly show that there had been no mistake in her words. Xion grinned, rubbing her neck awkwardly.

"Nice to meetcha' then," she said, finally releasing Naminé's hand. She flexed it behind her back, trying to get the blood flowing again. "I actually live in the house we're in front of now. I kinda got a little lost when I was trying to find the high school. Do you know where to go?"

Naminé hesitated, looking the girl up and down before nodding again. Xion's smile was blinding her so she looked away. She turned and started on the path, Xion falling into step next to her.

"So, you live around here?"

A nod.

"Are you new here too?"

A head shake.

"Not much of a talker, are you?"

Another head shake.

"Why not?"

Naminé could feel Xion's eyes watching her carefully, but she stayed silent as she opened her notebook and carefully wrote down two words. She was so used to writing them by now that they flowed off her pencil like they'd been just waiting for her to get to them.

_I'm mute_.

She picked up her pace after that, lowering her eyes as she waited for the scornful words that were sure to follow. First she'd declare her weird, then she'd decide that she shouldn't hang out with her, and then she'd leave her on her own to feel like a complete idiot for telling someone again. She should have just stuck with Kairi and Hayner's friends, she should have just kept on-

"Really? Sorry about that. I've never had a friend who was mute before. You'll just have to be my first."

Naminé still felt like crying, but for a different reason than before. She swept Xion into a tight hug, jumping up and down and laughing silently as Xion patted her head awkwardly. Maybe this year was taking a turn for the better.

…

Keeping on with her good luck of the day, Xion and Naminé turned out to have four classes together, two on each day. Kairi was in two of the classes with them as well, although only one today, and Naminé couldn't wait to introduce the two girls.

"Have you got any siblings?" Xion asked her. She was sitting backwards in her seat so she could see what Naminé was writing.

_I've got an older brother and an older sister. Although, I guess you could count Demyx as a sibling as well; he's there often enough. Plus, Kairi's like a sister to me. You?_

"I've got an older brother," Xion waved a hand dismissively. "His name's Seifer and he's a jerk. I try to avoid him most of the time. He's actually adopted, so he's got a different last name than me. Who's Demyx?"

Naminé hid her smirk behind her left hand. _He's my sister's slave. He wakes us up in the morning and babysits for me and Hayner in the afternoon. Sometimes he cooks for us too if I don't feel like it. He's like my other big sister._

Xion giggled, but her expression was slightly troubled. "But…what about your parents? Are they away a lot or something?"

Naminé averted her eyes, and Xion immediately backtracked. "I mean, uh, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to talk about it. What's, uh, what's your brother and sister like? I hope they're not as much of a jerk as Seifer."

Naminé let out a sigh of relief at the change in topic, but she guessed from Xion's worried expression that it wouldn't be the end of it. For one of the first times in her life, she was thrilled when Mr. Highwind walked in, signaling the start of class. Xion immediately shifted so she faced the front of the classroom, eyeing the teacher warily.

"Alright, kids," he started gruffly, folding his arms as he surveyed them severely. "We've got a new girl with us today. Xion Strife, the girl with the black hair over there. Wave at her so I don't get in trouble for not making her feel welcome."

Thirty arms waved at her mechanically, and Naminé titter as Xion shrunk in her seat. She waggled her fingers back at them uncertainly. Naminé just gave her a smirk in response to her pleading look.

"I'M HERE!"

Ooooh, karma was a bitch.

Hayner stood panting in the doorway, his eyes widening when he realized what classroom he was in.

"I didn't know you'd been knocked down two grades, Hayner," Mr. Highwind remarked dryly. "Although with your marks right now, it's not surprising. Say hello to you little sister, then get out of my classroom, kid."

Hayner took off immediately, calling over his shoulder. "Naminé, I'm going to KILL you after school!"

It was Xion's turn to smirk.

…

Naminé tried to steer clear of Hayner for the rest of the day. Xion found her paranoia hilarious and made a habit of pointing at something behind her head and gasping loudly, chuckling when Naminé spun about in a panic. The only upside of this behavior was that Kairi found it funny too, relieving her of the worry that her two friends wouldn't get along. They were going to get along just swimmingly. Which did not bode well for Naminé.

Like right now for instance. She didn't want to join the art club, although Kairi had been trying to convince her ever since school started. One person was relatively easy to resist, but now that Xion had joined the crusade…

"Come on, Nami," Kairi whined, dragging out the last syllable. "It's just for an hour after school, two days a week. It's not a big commitment."

"Yeah, Nami," Xion pleaded, her bottom lip quivering convincingly. "Just try it once and it you don't like it, you never ever have to do it ever again. So, please, just once!"

Naminé bit her lip hesitantly. The way they put it didn't sound so bad, and it was only… No! What was she thinking! Be strong, Naminé, be strong…

She shook her head firmly, raising the paper that she'd written on five minutes ago. _NO! Kairi, I don't want to._

Her two friends slumped in their seats, wearing matching glowers on their faces. They looked at each other and Naminé watched, horrified, as they turned into matching evil grins. She could almost hear the mad scientist laughing in their heads.

"We'll convince you somehow," Xion declared, raising a fist into the air. "Or my name is not Xion Strife!"

It was really only a matter of time. It was the end of the day, and Naminé realized that if she went home, Hayner would find her. Or he would, if he was not currently chasing her through the halls right now.

"Naminé, come back here! I still need time to kill Demyx!"

Well aware that from his years of Struggle, Hayner was much faster than her, Naminé swerved around a corner and dove into a room with an open door. It slammed shut much too fast behind her for it to have been natural. Naminé rolled so she was lying on her back, gazing in defeat at the two faces hovering above her. She had no idea how they had managed to plan it so well. She was so questioning Hayner once he calmed down.

"I knew you'd come!" Xion exclaimed, roughly pulling her to her feet. Kairi laughed behind her hand at Naminé's sullen expression. "After all I swore it on my name. And Dad would kill me if I did something like that and it didn't work out."

_Your dad sounds weird, _Naminé offered, holding up her notepad. Xion chuckled wryly, shaking her head in mock scorn.

"You think he's weird and you won't survive around Mom," she informed them seriously, before spinning on one heel to set up her canvas.

Naminé moved her eyes to Kairi, who was still smiling rather slyly, obviously still thrilled about how well her plan had worked. Naminé frowned darkly at her, but she just waved one hand in front of her like she was brushing it off.

"So, what d'ya wanna do?" Kairi asked, gesturing broadly with her arms. "We've got paint and charcoal and crayons and colored pencils and a computer if you like making graphics on there and regular pencils and…"

Naminé watched her friend patiently, waving the note in front of her face to try and grab her attention. Eventually, Kairi noticed the paper and went cross eyed to try and read it.

_Colored pencils_.

"Alright then!" she exclaimed, grabbing Naminé's elbow and bringing her over to a table. Only one other person was there, a blue haired girl with half of her face obscured. Naminé studied her curiously for a moment before turning back to Kairi.

_So, I just…draw?_ she inquired, raising one eyebrow skeptically. Kairi nodded enthusiastically, her whole body bobbing up and down. _That's it? But what do I draw?_

"Yup!" Kairi confirmed. She shoved her down into her seat rather roughly. "As for what, just draw something important to you or something that's been sticking at your mind."

Just like that, Naminé and the blue haired girl were alone. Something important, huh? Naminé mused to herself, absently picking up a pencil and beginning an outline. All she could think of was Hayner asleep this morning, shadows on his face like they normally were.

She paused in her drawing for second, wondering where that thought had come from before continuing on.

When the hour was up, she was relatively happy with her picture, but some little understanding was missing in her portrayal. She held it up to the light to inspect it, but a curt voice interrupted her.

"Hair," was the only word that was spoken, before the mystery girl who had been drawing across from her the whole time went on her way. Naminé watched her go, before looking back to her drawing, realizing that whoever she was, she was right. The hair should be more over his eyes, adding to the darkness around even more and adding a deeper and more peaceful effect to his sleeping face. She fixed it quickly, before standing up and gazing at the spot the girl had disappeared.

Who was she?

"Ready to go, Nam?" Kairi asked, slinging an arm around her shoulders. She could see Xion waiting for them in the hallway. Naminé glanced at her drawing one last time before slipping it into her backpack.

_Ready_.

…

Kairi lived in the opposite direction, so it was just Xion and Naminé walking home.

"You're a really good artist, Naminé," Xion complimented her, carefully walking down the edge of the sidewalk. "Why haven't you joined the club before?"

_Larxene and Hayner needed me at home a lot this year_, Naminé answered honestly. _I didn't want to worry them and inconvenience them too much by staying after school. They deserve more than that._

"Sometimes, you need to come first too," Xion told her firmly, clapping her on the shoulder. Naminé glanced at her, startled by her declaration. "This is my stop, so I'll see you tomorrow."

She ran up the stairs, giving a quick wave as she pushed past the movers and into the house. Naminé heard a faint "Hey, Seifer, you should've gone to school," and a "Shut up," before she decided to keep moving. She pushed Xion's advice out of her head as she gently slid open the door. When she reached the living room, she wondered why a flaming ice pack was hovering over the sofa.

She tiptoed over behind it and leaned over, seeing that the flames were actually hair and the person whose hair it was seemed to be sleeping. Just in case, she whacked him over the head with her sketchbook.

"OW!" the person exclaimed, turning around to snarl at her. "What is it with you Peters and whacking me on the head?"

_SORRY!_ Naminé scrawled quickly, holding it up and edging away from his rage. The look on his face immediately softened.

"It's okay kid," he assured her, settling back into the couch. "I'm Axel. Memorize it. Demyx asked me to come here for him today because he's terrified of Larxene and her little kid brother. For good reason too; that backpack he threw was heavy and it hit me from across the room."

Naminé laughed silently at his grouchy expression, but it fell when she heard footsteps behind her. She hurdled the couch in a desperate leap and hid behind Axel, peering out around him. To her relief, it was Roxas who stood in the threshold, not Hayner. She explained as much in the note she held in front of her face and his face immediately cleared of its confusion. Axel wasn't doing much of anything, just staring at Roxas with his mouth gaping open like a fish.

"Who're you then?" Roxas asked him, taking in his shell-shocked appearance with a raised eyebrow. Naminé was shaking his shoulder worriedly now, trying to snap him out of it. He did, a few seconds after Roxas addressed him.

"I…what…I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Axel prompted in a raspy voice, scratching at one of the tattoos beneath his eyes. He cleared his throat.

"Who. Are. You. Then." Roxas asked again, in the tone one would use when addressing a four year old. Naminé's shoulder slumped in relief when a playful grin surfaced again on Axel's face.

"I'm Axel. Got it memorized?"

At the look on Roxas's face, Naminé felt like this would be the beginning of a wonderful relationship. If by wonderful, you meant goddamn awful.

It might make an interesting drawing.

…

**AN: **Hee hee hee. Axel and Roxas sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S… Axel, no! Don't burn the tree down you idiot! And put down those Keyblades Roxas! I'm watching you.

Ahem.

So, like I said, I don't feel like I'm totally getting Xion's character. Although it is an AU, so I can take a few liberties I guess. Kairi's only OOC cause she doesn't have much of a part in this chapter. Kairi will definitely get better.

_Reviews:_

_FinalFallenFantasy:_ Thanks for the compliments. I hope you continue to enjoy it as much as you did the first chapter.

_Seinerlove_: Don't worry, there will be Zemyx although not for a little bit. It's gonna play a pretty important part in the plot actually. And Larxene's not quite as much of a bitch in this story as she is in the game. Besides, somebody has to carry on the next generation.

_My black crimson rose: _Sorry about your bad math grade. I've been there before, especially since my teacher is really moody this year. Thanks for the compliment through. Seifer will make another appearance next chapter (like for a lot of it) and Roxas has met Axel. Hooray!

Thanks to everyone who alerted this story too. Leave a review next time, okay? Reviews are what make my world go round. That and Munchos.

Quiz for you! More like a guessing game. Be the first one to get it right and maybe you'll get a prize.

Note the Maybe

Who are Xion's parents? Both of them!

Who was the mystery girl sitting across from Naminé?

Does Seifer's adoption have any importance besides me wanting to keep his last name?

How many hipsters does it take to change a lightbulb?

Good luck! See y'all next chapter.

This is tLrIuEtSh wrapping up.


	4. Seifer: The Second Meeting

Chapter 3- Seifer: The Second Meeting of the Asshole and the Fucking Chickenwuss

**AN- **Hey! It's finally here, the next chapter of WDtH. God knows it took long enough, but I barely had any time during this month to write anything other than my NaNoWriMo piece. Thankfully, I only have 2000 more words left for that, and I figure two days is enough for that. Only 1000 words a day, yay!

So this has been my baby all through the month. Every time I got another hundred words in, my heart just almost burst with love for it. I love writing Seifer. I love, love, love writing my precious Seifer. Especially right after Naminé. Naminé's hard to write for me. And Hayner's always bipolar with me. Sometimes he flows real easy, and other times I have to drag him out kicking and screaming. But not Seifer.

Before I go into complete rapture about how wonderful writing Seifer is, I will officially apologize for withholding this chapter so long. I actually finished it around the eighteenth, but it was total shit. So I spent another ten days editing it and making it better. It went from a measly 3000 words to a whopping 5000. My longest chapter yet if you can believe it! Hopefully they'll continue getting longer so you, my beautiful readers, can be entertained for longer. Also, I probably will have updates a little faster now that November is almost over. No more 50000 word novel to write anymore, so I'll have more free time to do this.

Hey, have you ever noticed that the Riku Replica kind of sounds like a scorned girlfriend or something when he talks to Sora? Maybe it's just me, but I was giggling a little bit during one of the fight scenes where he says Sora keeps 'worming his way into his heart' or something. I can't remember the exact quote anymore. I'll send cyber cookies to whoever can get it for me!

**Disclaimer**-Demyx and Zexion have no interaction during the games. I am a rabid, frothing at the mouth Zemyx fan. You do that math.

…

Seifer really had no problem with moving in his junior year of high school. He'd always been a bit of an outsider, mostly due to his holier-than-thou attitude and a mouth that you wanted to wash out with soap. So, he really was being completely and totally honest when he said that the move _itself_ was no trouble. It was just the place they'd happened to move, and he hadn't even minded _that_ until this very moment.

"_One day I woke up, woke up knowing that today is the day I will die!"_ A voice blasted from the house next door. Seifer made an attempt to block out the noise by burying his head in his pillow. Not that the guy was a bad singer exactly… a little too mellow for his taste, but otherwise okay. The problem was that it was fucking five thirty in the morning. Five. Fucking. Thirty. Seifer just wanted to go smash his fist into the singer's nose. And then leave him there, bleeding and unconscious, and then go straight back to sleep.

"_Cashdogg was barking, went to the park and enjoyed that one last time! Called my mother, told her I loved her, and begged her not to cry!"_

Assuming the voice was not going to stop anytime soon, Seifer blearily sat up just as his sister burst into the room, pink Barbie pajamas and everything. "Seifer. What the hell is that and can you go beat him up now?"

"_Wrote her a letter that said I'd miss her and signed that goodbye!_" the voice blared. They both winced again. Seifer was seriously considering going over there and actually punching the bastard rather than just fantasizing about it, when a new voice cut him off. This one wasn't singing, but it was no less loud either. In fact, it was louder. Like, all caps loud.

"DEMYX! I'M GOING TO STRING YOU UP BY YOUR GODFORSAKEN HAIR, MAKE YOU WATCH AS I SMASH ALL YOUR GUITARS ONE BY ONE, AND THEN I'M GOING TO SLIT YOUR FUCKING THROAT!" the new voice shrieked. Seifer tiredly commended it on its creative threat.

"Hayner, there's a lady in the house, don't use such foul language!" the first voice yelled back, a note of fear in it, hidden behind a chipper attitude. "And I'm just making up for yesterday!"

"Don't you dare send that stupid redhead over again just to avoid me! I'll sic Larxene on you! I'll tell her where you live! And then I'll tell Saïx where you live and send him over there on a full moon to eat you!"

"Saïx isn't a werewolf no matter how much you may think it, Hay Hay!"

"Yes, he is, I swear! There's no way that I just dreamed that up! He was fucking clawing at my window! Clawing! On a full moon! And don't call me that stupid nickname, _Demykins!_"

"Oh no! Get the silver bullets, there's a big scary tree branch outside!"

"GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING IDIOT! NAMINÉ, GET OUT OF MY WAY! I DON'T CARE IF I GO TO PRISON I'M STILL GOING TO KILL HIM!"

Seifer slowly turned his head over to look at Xion. She looked thoughtful, one hand placed on her chin in an exaggerated pose. Suddenly, her eyes lit up in realization. "Oh! That must be Demyx and Hayner. Really should have expected this from what Naminé told me about them yesterday."

He blinked once. Twice. Three times. Then, "You know them?"

"Yeah, indirectly," Xion smiled sheepishly at him, running a hand through her mussed up black hair. "They're my new best friend's brothers. Or, one's her brother. The other one's just a close family friend."

He let that sink in for a moment. His hand was then very politely introduced to his face. "I'm going to hate it here, aren't I?"

"Don't be so pessimistic," Xion chided, leaving the room to let him get dressed.

He stayed sitting on the bed for another moment, trying to ignore the loud argument, before heaving himself up. He could hear Cloud's half comprehensible, "Whazzat?" most likely to Xion as she passed him in the hallway. Tifa slept like a log, so he assumed she was not bothered by these new circumstances. He pulled a pair of jeans and a T-shirt on before settling his usual beanie on his head. Staring into the mirror, he allowed himself a smirk of satisfaction that quickly slipped away as a loud crash reverberated from the house next door. He slammed the door behind him as he left the room.

Cloud gazed at him over his coffee as he entered the kitchen, half smile on his lips. While this might seem normal to anyone else, in Cloud world a half smile was the equivalent of a full-blown grin. Seifer eyed him warily as he collapsed on the table. "Morning, Seifer. Can't imagine why you're up at this hour."

"Go to hell," Seifer groaned, burying his head in his arms. His foster dad let out a single chuckle, leading to being on the receiving end of an exhausted, yet still intimidating glare. In fact, the tiredness probably made it more threatening. "Why are you so fucking happy this morning anyway? Nothing's that funny about being woken up by a fucking screaming match, even if it does make for relatively amusing entertainment."

They paused to listen to the scream of, "NAMINÉ, KEEP HIM AWAY FROM THE KNIFE DRAWER FOR GOD'S SAKE! I WANT TO LIVE! I HAVE A TEST TOMORROW!" before continuing on with their conversation.

"You should be glad Tifa's not up to hear you talk like that," Cloud thought for a moment, taking another sip of his coffee and sighing. "I guess I'm just glad that we finally got here in one piece. Ten hours in a car with Tifa is not fun."

As an afterthought, he added, "Don't tell her I said that."

"My lips are sealed if you give me some of that coffee," Seifer bargained, rubbing his temples to rid himself of the oncoming headache. Cloud's lips twitched again.

"Done."

Xion placed a plate of toast and sausage in front of both of them, before collapsing in the seat with her own. She chomped into one of her sausages viciously. Seifer thought it reminded him of how a starving animal would eat. "You really should have come to school yesterday, Seif. It's pretty awesome there if I may say so myself. And then you wouldn't have had to help with all the dull moving stuff."

"Not all of us can be as rested as you after only two hours of sleep," Seifer slammed the mug onto the table after he'd chugged down the rest of the coffee. His foster dad looked down into the empty cup in mild despair. "Now that I think about it, I did hear some guitar music coming from there yesterday."

"It was at a more reasonable time, though," Cloud noted, heading to the fridge to grab a soda instead. "Like, quarter of seven."

"And there wasn't any fucking yelling," Seifer finished, stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth. Xion gave him a disgusted look. He retaliated by glaring at her threateningly, and stuffing another one in as well. "Wa'it?"

"Your eating habits are sickening," Xion informed him, wrinkling her nose. Cloud nodded sagely in the background. Seifer just tugged his beanie down over his eyes and slumped down sulkily.

"Hudhrlipson," Seifer mumbled from around the bread. Xion raised an eyebrow delicately, before devouring another sausage. Seifer slowly chewed and swallowed, two pieces of toast a little bit too much even for his cavernous mouth. He stole Cloud's soda and took a sip while the man wasn't watching. "Shut the hell up, Xion. You're one to talk."

She just flashed him a toothy grin. Little sausage bits greeted him, and he looked away.

It was another forty five minutes before it was a reasonable enough time to leave for school. Tifa hadn't woken up the whole time, the lucky woman. The house next door had finally gone quiet around five minutes before they left, but nobody had departed from it yet.

Xion dragged him over to the hereon out dubbed Fucking Psychopaths' House, even though he firmly planted his heels and shook his head violently. He didn't want to go anywhere near the fucking early birds. But Xion had insisted, saying something about he just _had_ to meet Naminé, because she was her new _best friend_ and she _needed_ to meet Hayner and Demyx too, or the two of them could _never_ connect on a _truly deep _level. When he had asked her why the fuck she connect on a _truly deep_ level anyway, she had merely rolled her eyes and dragged him there with brute force. It hurt his pride a bit to admit that he fought her tooth and nail every step, but she was the only one to make any progress. But then again, Xion was stronger than a herd of oxen when she set her mind to it. Only Tifa could ever resist her limb removing pull.

They arrived at the door just as it opened, the timing of which Seifer personally thought was a bit too creepy to not have been planned in advance. A delicate looking blond in a simple white dress and black jacket stood in the doorway. Her blue eyes lit up at the sight of them, and she waved enthusiastically. Holding up one finger to indicate for them to wait a second, she disappeared around the corner. She came back before he could take the opportunity to slip away while his sister was distracted, a sketchbook held in one hand, and the front of a shirt in another.

It soon became apparent that the shirt was attached to a chest, which in turn was attached to the rest of a body. Seifer's gaze traveled up from the white hand to the tan face that was glaring at him like he was the devil spawn. He blinked, contemplating on whatever he could have done already to make the person hate him. However, when he met chocolate brown eyes, realization dawned on him. He grimaced slightly as he remembered the punch. He felt a bit sorry for it really, but it was just an automatic reaction, cultivated from years of getting into fights. The guy should have been looking where he was going in the first place.

"You!" the boy declared, pointing at him dramatically. The two girls looked confused. Seifer just smirked at him.

"Yep," Seifer nodded. "It's me. Although, I must say, I prefer Seifer."

"You…you…you punched me!" he accused wildly. Xion finally seemed to understand, and Seifer pointedly ignored the disappointed look she shot him. The blond girl, who he assumed was Naminé, still looked lost. Xion's sad gaze soon became a glare before anyone noticed it and punched him in the arm, hard enough to leave a bruise. Biting his tongue, he struggled to not show any reaction. His fingers unconsciously ghosted across the scar that ran across his face, before they dropped back to his side again.

"There, we're all even!" she exclaimed, the strain in her voice apparent to no one but Seifer. Another battered figure peeked around the corner, hair in a strange mess that looked like it had once been a cross between a mullet and a Mohawk. His eyes lit up when they fell on Seifer, and he pointed at him, bouncing on his heels slightly. Seifer went cross eyed to keep his gaze on the tip of the finger. What were with these people and pointing at his face, anyway?

"Wait, you're the one who decked him?" the guy jumped in the air enthusiastically. Seifer recognized him as the voice who'd been singing. The chickenwuss subtly stepped on his foot, and the singer scowled at him. "Ow, Hayner that hurt! Anyway, Larx is so going to chop off your limbs!"

He sounded way too happy about that. Seifer was starting to wonder if these people really were psychopaths, just as he had first assumed. Xion noticed his discomfort and smirked evilly, although it quickly became a cheesy grin when Naminé looked at her questioningly. He noted with relief that she seemed like she was back to normal.

"Let's go already!" she whined, rocking back and forth impatiently. The singer –Demyx, he assumed- nodded vigorously in agreement and shoved the two younger people out, shutting the door with a bang behind them to prevent any retreat.

"Have fun!" came the muffled voice from behind the door. A minute later, the guitar music started up again. Hayner glared, eyes seemingly boring into the wood and right up to the blond head inside, muttering a few choice words under his breath. Seifer quirked his eyebrows, impressed despite himself. The idiot had quite a colorful vocabulary.

"Quick introduction!" Xion announced, ushering them all down the steps and startling Seifer out of his thoughts. "Naminé, this is Seifer. Seifer is an asshole. Seifer, this is Naminé. Naminé is not an asshole. I'm sure you'll get along somehow."

Naminé smiled at him and stuck out her hand. He shook it cautiously, irrationally scared that she would shatter if he squeezed too hard. When he let go, she reached for her pen and flipped open her notebook, beginning to write. Seifer surveyed her oddly for moment, wondering what the hell she was doing. He understood however, when she held up her notebook for them all to read. _Xion, this is Hayner. Hayner has violent tendencies. Hayner, this is Xion. Xion also had violent tendencies. You already have something in common, you see?_

Seifer turned to Xion, who was smiling and shaking the lamer's hand, but he knew she knew that he was watching her. At least he now understood why she had coerced this girl into being friends with her. He suppressed a rare smile, as he felt Hayner's good eye focusing on him. He was obviously expecting him to have some problem with his sister. His hand smoothed his beanie farther down his nose as he sent a sneer in the chickenwuss's direction.

"And last, Hayner meet Seifer. Seifer meet Hayner. Or should I say," Xion's irises were glittering in dark amusement. "Hay Hay?"

He squawked and tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. Xion's laughter echoing around them, Seifer shook his head in exasperation. Naminé placed a hand over her mouth to cover a smile, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. After a moment, he smiled back.

…

Of course he had his first class with the lamer. And of course, the teacher of that class just happened to be a hyperactive wannabe ninja. And of course she would see the two of them coming in together as a sign that they got along _well_ and promptly seat Seifer next to him, kicking a poor frightened student out of their desk. Literally.

"Don't talk to me," Hayner mumbled as he collapsed at his desk, head tucked in his folded arms. Seifer raised his eyebrows, resting his own head against one hand.

"Wasn't planning on it," he said, watching as a spiky haired kid walked in the door and slammed his books down with a loud bang on the seat behind Hayner. He scowled at Seifer. Probably one of those 'I hate the whole fucking world' kids. Well, good. Seifer had been dealing with those for a lifetime, if you know what he means.

You do remember who his dad is, right? Just checking.

"Who the hell are you?" Spiky asked him, spitting out his words like acid, and eyeing him like he was gum on the bottom of his shoe. Seifer smirked and opened his mouth to say something appropriately rude back, but someone tackled him behind before he could. Wide upside down blue eyes stared at him in curiosity, much, much too close to his face.

Hand twitching, he barely stopped himself from closing it into a fist as the claustrophobia kicked in. He felt Hayner's eyes zero in.

"Hey! There's a new kid!" the boy shouted in Seifer's ear, getting out of range before Seifer could give him a black eye to match Hayner's. "Roxas, Roxas, do you know his name yet? Be polite and ask his name."

This boy was sort of like Tifa in a way, Seifer reasoned with himself, relaxing a bit. Nothing to worry about. A harmless annoyance that didn't know any better.

"Shut up, Sora," Spiky #1 groaned, plopping into his chair. Spiky #2 took the one in front of Seifer, sitting backwards in it so that he could stare at him. He tapped his fingers uncomfortably as the stare just continued without the freaky kid saying anything. Just like Tifa, just like Tifa, he chanted in his head. Tifa in her most hormonal, sugar rushed, and quite possibly drunk state.

Spiky #1 noticed his discomfort and smirked, earning a dagger filled glare. Why was everyone at this school so damn annoying? Even the teacher here was fucking aggravating.

As if wishing to prove this point, Ms. Yuffie came skipping back over, a huge textbook balanced on her head. She promptly tipped the textbook from her own head onto Seifer's own. His hand twitched again as he felt a lump form

"This is your textbook for this class," she declared cheerily, prancing away again. She was blissfully unaware of the murderous thoughts being directed her way

"Hey dude, what's your problem?" The chickenwuss finally deigned to talk to him, brown eyes twisted in a poisonous glare that rivaled his own that he immediately shot back. "And Naminé said that _I _was the one with violent tendencies."

"I don't see anybody else with a black eye yet, do you?" Seifer growled. Spiky #1 shot up from his slumped state to eye him disgustedly again. "And what the hell is gnawing at you?"

"You're the one who punched Hayner?" Spiky #1 asked, eyes narrowing threateningly. Seifer snorted in aggravation. He fucking hated over-protective people like this guy. They'd always pissed him off so damn much. Squeezing his knee tightly to keep from fiddling with his hat again, he gritted his teeth in preparation. "You damn asshole! Do you just go around punching people every time of the day? I should just go ahead and-"

"Maybe if the fucking chickenwuss would look at where the hell he was going, then I wouldn't want to punch him in the first place," Seifer hissed back. "Damn idiot walked into me when I was carrying boxes of Tifa's stuff. He's lucky nothing broke or he would have gotten worse than that."

"Wait, you were carrying boxes," Hayner interrupted, furrowing his brow in concentration. Furious eyes turned away from Spiky #1 to focus on him. "I didn't…"

"Yes, I was carrying boxes. That's what the moving trucks were for, stupid," Seifer noticed the blank look settling on the lamer's face again, and kicked his leg under the table. He immediately started out of it. "Boxes full of Tifa's stuff like I said. She would have killed me if I had broken anything, and she'd probably tie Cloud up to keep him from stopping her. Thankfully, that mover guy caught them before they could hit the ground."

"That's not a reason to punch someone!" Spiky #1 was standing up now, but Hayner forced him back down before he could leap at Seifer or something equally stupid. He slumped in his seat again, sulking.

"So what is your name anyway?" Spiky #2 piped up, having been watching the whole exchange with a sort of tense anxiety. Seifer glared at him.

"Seifer Almasy," he grunted finally, sinking in his seat and tugging down his beanie again. The lamer shot him a weird look. After the death glare was directed to him however, he just shrugged and put his face down in his arms again.

There was silence between them for the rest of time until class started.

In his second class of the day, things started to look up a bit. Spiky #2, or Sora he supposed, had shown him to his next class, talking up a storm all the way there. Or maybe it just seemed that way to Seifer, after spending so much time with Cloud. But then again, he also lived with Tifa, so he could assume he could be a good judge of the amount people talked. Sora was really pushing the limit he could take, without being related to the fucking person, before he punched something. Preferably, the talker's face.

No, he didn't have anger management problems. He just liked to solve things with violence.

The teacher, Professor Yen Sid, was a creepy bastard. His eyes popped out of his head for one thing, and come on. The guy wore a fucking wizard's hat. However, his quiet, if a bit disconcerting voice, was very welcome after Ms. Yuffie's talk-until-their-ears-fall-off approach. He seated him next to a well-muscled African American boy.

And let's just be clear. When he said well muscled, he meant like this kid had to be a fucking body builder or something. He could probably crush Seifer's head like a grape with one hand if he wanted to. Although to be fair, the guy seemed a little passive to do that.

"So, uh, you must be new here," the guy rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, before sticking a large hand out. "I'm Rai. It's nice to meet you, y'know?"

He took the offered hand a bit hesitantly, expecting all the bones to be crushed in his hands. Surprisingly, Rai just gave it one soft shake before letting go, perfectly intact. Seifer flexed his hand in relief. "It's good to meet you too, I guess."

"You do any sports? Like Struggle, y'know?" Rai asked him. Seifer smirked, leaning back in his chair and resting his feet on the interior if his desk. "You seem like the type to do that, y'know?"

"Yeah, I Struggle. Not my favorite thing to do to be honest, but I'm good at it," Seifer shrugged, pulling on his beanie. "Besides I'm supposed to be channeling my aggression to positive outlets and stuff, at least according to Tifa. I like basketball too, though."

"I play basketball!" Rai exclaimed, thumping his chest proudly. Seifer considered him, having had him more pinned for football. "We got a pretty good team here, y'know? You should try out."

"Maybe I will," Seifer grinned, the bell marking the end of their conversation and the start of class. He fixed his posture so he looked like he was paying attention, but in his head he was running around in circles to celebrate finally not scaring someone off by punching them in the face or violently cussing them out.

You know. In a totally manly way.

…

The fucking chickenwuss was in his creative writing class. Ms. Gainsborough sat them next to each other for some incomprehensible reason, ("You two just look so cute together!) and the chickenwuss had obviously decided to take the place of Spiky #1 in this class, although a less violent one. Seifer found that he actually didn't mind the argument; it was almost fun to win so absolutely against this kid. He would not do well in debate, that was for sure. Not that Seifer had ever _been _in debate or anything…Xion had and he'd had to pick her up and…yeah…

That was until the phone rang.

"Hello?" Ms. Gainsborough answered, face breaking out into a gentle smile at whoever was at the other end of the line. "Oh, hello Squall… Yes, yes, I know it's _Leon_…"

Hayner was slowly tensing up beside him, and his hands were clenched into tight fists. Seifer frowned, twisting his neck to try and see his face. What was wrong with him? His last taunt hadn't been one to cause this reaction. Brown eyes were fixed on the teacher; Ms. Gainsborough's smile seemed to be quickly fading now. "Oh… So you want to see him now? Can you come pick him up?... I'll send somebody down with him then… They'll wait outside, Leon, it won't be a problem …Mmhmm… Yes, I'll see you later."

"Hayner," the teacher said suddenly as she gently placed the phone back in its receiver and turned around. "Mr. Leonhart wants to see you. Seifer, I know it's your first day, but we're not really doing much, so would you mind walking him? You have Mr. Leonhart tomorrow anyway I think; it'd be good to know where his classroom is."

Seifer grunted and stood up, Hayner copying his movements in slow motion. They maneuvered their way through the crowded classroom and out the door. Seifer turned on his heels to let the lamer lead the way, but the idiot merely stood there, glassy eyed. Frowning, Seifer clapped his hands in front of his face, smirking in satisfaction when the other boy jumped a foot in the air. "Oi, wake up. I don't know where we're going."

"I know that!" Hayner snapped, his voice sharp and angry. Seifer blinked in confusion as the other boy brushed passed him, shoving him out of the way forcefully. Normally he would have shoved someone right back, but Hayner looked like a mess. His hands were shaking, and his face had rapidly been paling to almost match his sister's complexion. So, Seifer merely followed him quietly.

The silence hung heavy in the air, and he felt the urge to say something. This felt unnatural for some reason. Despite having known the boy for less than a day really, Seifer could tell that this behavior was not normal for him. In creative writing, he had been hot headed and angry, without being very serious about it at the same time. Right now, his whole body was tense like he was walking to a fight, and everything about him screamed of panic. It reminded him of some of the kids back home, the ones that had endured a bad beating and jumped at their own shadow. But he somehow doubted that that was what was happening here.

"Hey, are you alright?" the words slipped out before he could stop them, surprising the both of them with their sincerity. Hayner came to a halt in front of him, pivoting to face him slowly. His brown eyes were wide and scared, his breath coming a little too fast and shallow. "You don't look very good. You're not going to throw up, are you? Cause, I don't want vomit all over me, so give me a warning if you're about to."

The chickenwuss swallowed hard, seeming to calm down a bit. He sneered at Seifer, back to normal now. "Of course I'm not going to throw up asshole. What gave you that stupid idea?"

With that, he grabbed the knob of the door he was standing next to and walked in. Seifer tilted his head at it in confusion. He hadn't even noticed they gotten here. It occurred to him that he'd been too busy watching Hayner to pay attention to where they were going.

Now that was a disturbing thought.

…

Apparently Tifa had actually taken it upon herself to get herself out of bed and pick her two children up from school. Seifer actually stopped in his tracks when he saw the sleek black car in the parking lot. Xion actually ran out there without looking to see if cars were coming to go greet her. Naminé actually put down her sketchbook and craned her neck to get a better look. Hayner actually bothered to stop and ask, "Who's that?"

"Tifa," Seifer answered grimly, with the air of one who had been sentenced to death. Hayner shot him a questioning look. He was back to normal after the weird episode in creative writing, but Seifer had been watching him carefully for any sign of a sudden relapse. He wasn't quite sure where the sudden protectiveness had come from, but it had something to do with the strange little quirks he had been noticing ever since he had seen the boy this morning. And it had something to do with how he reminded him of Xion when…

His thoughts were interrupted by the honk of a horn and Xion tackling him. He staggered back a few steps under her weight, but he was used to the sudden bouts of affection.

"You guys want to drive home with us?" Xion asked excitedly, grinning at the two siblings over her own brother's shoulder. Naminé hesitated for a moment, but she nodded yes eventually, smiling gently. Hayner was another matter entirely. His face had gone pallid, and he was almost swaying on his feet, his eyes glazed over like he was lost in a memory. Worry heightening, Seifer shrugged off Xion to clap his hands in front of his face.

"Ah!" Hayner exclaimed, jumping backwards a step and garnering two odd looks. Naminé's eyes however, Seifer noticed, were shadowed with some dark understanding. The chickenwuss flushed under the scrutiny. "A-Ah, no. I'm fine with w-walking, thanks."

"Suit yourself," Xion said, losing interest as she grabbed Naminé's arm and pulled her away towards the car. Hayner's eyes were almost scared as he watched her go, but he made no move to stop her from leaving. Shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably, Seifer considered offering to walk with him. However, he figured that offer was far too unlike him, and he should probably figure out why he ever thought to mention it in the first place. Instead, he clapped Hayner's shoulder companionably, before following his sister to the car, where he would be subjected to Tifa's maniacal driving.

Maybe he _should_ have walked with Hayner.

Tifa grinned at him as he entered the car. It was far too predatory for his liking, and he shrunk away from her in his shotgun position. Xion and Naminé had already unfortunately claimed the back. Safety precaution, Xion always said. Unlike normal siblings, they fought for the backseat rather than the front.

"Who was that?" she trilled questioningly, recklessly pulling out of the parking space without glancing in the rear view mirror. "Did my little Seifer finally make a friend? Xion, tell me, tell me, did he?"

"Well, he didn't cuss anyone out or beat anyone to a bloody pulp today," Xion said approvingly. Seifer grabbed his hat before she could yank it off. Naminé smiled at him in the rear view mirror, secretively. He scowled back, before frantically putting on his seat belt when Tifa finally pulled out of the parking lot.

Some things never changed, no matter where you moved.

…

**AN:** Ahh… I'm so glad that I finally finished this. I personally think it's pretty good too.

The last time I checked the amount of hits for the last chapter it was 69. It made me smile a little on the inside. I'm thinking I'll finally get to adding the Zemyx subplot next chapter. But you didn't hear that from me.

_Reviews:_

_my black crimson rose: _Yay for your math grade! I hope it's still going up, even without updates, although I doubt it's really this story raising it. But who knows, I guess. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, and I'm hoping that there's enough Seifer in here to tide you over. Snow really does look like him though. I haven't got FF13 yet, because I only have a PS3 at my dad's house, and I'm not there often enough to really play on it. But I want it!

I was very sad to see that I only got one review, even if it was a very nice one. The button at the bottom is very sad too. It feels lonely and thinks that you are avoiding it. Please go cheer up the button!

Another Quiz for you!

When do you think the fabled Larxene will make her second appearance?

Will Demyx manage to keep from being maimed through this story, or will he finally fall victim to the Peters family?

What's your favorite quote from Kingdom Hearts? Any of the games.

Has anyone seen the latest Harry Potter movie? What'd you think of it if you did?

Leave your answers in a review. See ya!

This is tLrIuEtSh finishing her report!


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